Oh…The Things You’ll See

Good Morning Everyone!

Welcome back to another rendition of untitledincandide. Living up to our reputation, our movie-nights have been going on every Saturday (and one Thursday) for approximately 2 months now. Here is an overview of what we have viewed:

1. Tropic Thunder – Robert Downey Jr. steals the show; proving the point that black is beautiful…wait can we say that in this case (I better call somebody)? All I know is “weren’t no cell phones in ’69, man. I’m head-to-toe legitimate.”
2. Ringu – Apparently, a daughter killing her father is not scary to some folks.
3. Shaun of the Dead – “Purple Rain?  No. Sign o’ the Times? Definitely not. The Batman soundtrack? Throw it.”
4. Shawshank Redemption – “The funny thing is, I was an honest man, straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to be a crook.”
5. Metropolis (anime) – Who am I?
6. Spirited Away – A Miyazaki classic.
7. Thir13en Ghosts – HA! He was cut in half. Genius…cinematic genius.
8. In the Mood for Love – Beautifully shot. I’ve been telling secrets in trees ever since.
9. The Prestige – “Now you’re looking for the secret. But you won’t find it because of course, you’re not really looking. You don’t really want to work it out. You want to be fooled.”
10. 2046 – The loose sequel to In the Mood for Love. Bravo to Zhang Ziyi (XOXO).
11. The Shining – A Kubrick classic.
12. Ratatoullie – “Anyone can cook.” We had to watch this!
13. Wall-E – There’s nothing wrong with two robots falling in love…computer love, digital love.
14. Fanboys – “Rush is variety. Rule number 1…in my van it’s all Rush, all the time.”
15. Paprika – “Light and dark, reality and dream, man and woman. The missing ingredient? Paprika? Exactly.”
16. The Incredibles – Super-family fun. “Make it a close 2nd.”
17. Up – That is going to be me in about 5 years.
18. Raising Arizona – “I also got a package of balloons. They blow up into funny shapes and all? No, just circular.”

Lastly, for today’s movie-night, we watched Yi Yi; the critically acclaimed Taiwanese film about the life of a Taiwanese family living in Taipei. The film may seem a bit long and ponderous at times, but the dialogue is so brilliant and emotionally-packing, length and dullness can be ignored. The concluding oration by Jonathan Chang (Yang Yang) is something worth listening to. In fact, every scene with the kid is a good one too. (True that, double true!)

And the second movie viewed was Miyazaki’s film adaptation of his manga of the same name, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. One of his earliest films; a masterpiece nonetheless. Nature versus man. (Wo)Man trying to help create balance between both to eventually save nature, while nature saves humanity. The girl can glide and kick-ass. Watch it!